China, the biggest buyer of U.S. sovereign bonds, could be slowing down or even halting its purchases, according to a report.

Bloomberg News reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter, that officials in Beijing have recommended the Chinese government lower — or even stop — its buying of U.S. sovereign debt.

The report also notes that Chinese officials think U.S. debt is becoming less attractive compared with other assets, adding that trade tensions between the two countries could provide a reason to slow down or halt the purchases..

“If China stops buying Treasuries, the market could suffer,” strategists at Jefferies said. “Treasury financing needs are going to rise significantly in 2018 and beyond relative to recent history, so Treasury is going to be looking for as many sources of demand as they can find.”

The news worried markets.

Treasury prices fell, boosting yields. The dollar also dropped against most currencies and gold rose. U.S. equities declined.

4 Comments

BB

The Chinese are not our friends. For decades they’ve been flooding our markets with cheep electronics forcing American businesses out of business. They don’t want our bonds? Screw um. As they can play with our bonds, we can tariff their electronics to a level the allows our businesses to prosper again.

Maybe the president will put a new currency in place and tell the federal reserve and china to take a hike. Tell the fed we are not paying any more interest. He can call it red, white and blue dollars.